Phantom of the Rock Era

We're celebrating 150 years of Brian Barnes today with a birthday boy salute about a creepy old rocker. Ummm, nuff said? Brian had initially requested a few other Skywald terror tales but I'll be damned if I can remember what they were, --so if this one doesn't make the 'ol amplifiers squeal, then I guess I'll try again in another 150 years! Yes, it's truly amazing how close that cover art not only predicted Brian's current physical appearance and fashion sense, but also his "no-strap" guitar playing style. Happy birthday, we're all looking forward to the feedback! From the June 1971 issue of Nightmare #4.

Those Tentacles! / Slimes, Slogs and Glumps

The Charlton creeps are eruptin' from the deep today at THOIA, with a nice 'n icky drippy pair-up via the June 1975 issue of Ghostly Tales #106, as well as one from the November 1982 issue of Scary Tales #35 --and both illustrated by the terrifyingly terrific, Tom Sutton too! Things from the murky, lurky depths hold a special place in my heart-- maybe these slimy thingies will hold you in a special place-- in their stomaches! (2nd tale scans courtesy of Holden, thank you!)

The Creeping Death

Fans of H.P. Lovecraft's style of modern man facing ancient evil in the form of tentacled terror might enjoy this crazy (and very very sweaty) Rudy Palais tale from the March 1953 issue of Chamber of Chills #16. Metallica fans, you can come on down too... "so let it be written, so let it be done."

The Shambler from the Stars!

Time to get October rollin' around here, and to kick the month off proper, we could maybe use a little something different than the usual, preferably something from a true master story teller. Robert Bloch is certainly one of the very scary best, and with some help from Ron Goulart, Jim Starlin, Tom Palmer, Roy Thomas, (and of course H. P. Lovecraft) how about a flash forward, Silver Age screamer from the February 1972 freak-out issue of Journey into Mystery #3.

















And after you read todays terrifying tale, CLICK HERE to immediately head over to my other blog to see what else I've conjured up from the evil pits of demonical darkness--

Wentworth's Day (H.P. Lovecraft)

Another classic from Christopher Lee's Treasury of Terror paperback (Pyramid Books, 1966), this time from the great H. P. Lovecraft, (a story actually completed after his death by August Derleth), and here adapted / illustrated by Russ Jones. Says Lee in the introduction: "...we are enchanted by the whirling mists of HPL's unmentionable world, with its horrendous song of the whippoorwills, all set amidst the lurking trolls of witch-haunted Arkham. The immortal creator of the mighty Cthulhu Mythos has written nothing more eerie than Wentworth's Day." Actually, I can think of a few HPL tales that are more eerie than this one, but who am I to argue with Dracula?!

We'll be heading back into the 1950's pre-code horror next, but I promise to return to Christopher Lee's Treasury of Terror later this summer with the remaining Robert Bloch and Ambrose Bierce tales, (fyi: it's a royal pain in the ass scanning stories out of an old paperback, and the main reason why it's taking so long to get this stuff posted-- the clean-up alone is murder!)